they want major cuts in entitlement programs in return. tahman bradley joins us from washington with more. >> reporter: sunny and john, good morning. with time running out, president obama and speaker boehner are negotiating directly. congress needs a bill soon. president obama is back on the road today, peddling his plan to avoid the so called fis kalg cliff. in washington, republicans and democrats remain far from a deal. sunday, small sign of hope. mr. obama and john boehner meet together. a source said, i would be a little enjournlged. not greatly, but a little. republicans may be ready to compromise on tax hikes for the rich. >> there's a growing group of folks looking at this and saying, we don't have a lot of cards in regards to the tax issue. >> reporter: some are open to more tax revenues. the two parties seem to be closer on entitlement, with one leading democrats saying he's open to means testing for medicare. >> i do believe there should be means testing. those of us with higher income and retirement should may more. >> reporte